Posts Tagged 'Gömda'

One huge argument for using internet in learning, is that it is said to widen perspectives, helping people find different stories and learning people to value the greyscales of the world. This seems to be entirely wrong, according to recent events in Sweden. Here, the most widely sold book ever, “Hidden” in English, by Liza Marklund, has been criticized as a fraud. It has claimed to be a true story about domestic violence and a woman’s struggle, but are now met with another book – “Mia, the truth about Hidden”. This new book claims to hold nothing but the truth, and in the intense debate that has followed, the author Monica Antonsson keeps repeating her demands for the truth. A huge blog storm has broken loose with hundreds of thousands of posts by all kinds of bloggers. After a couple of days, this turned into a foxhunt on Liza Marklund, far beyond journalistic dignity, where she is publicly humiliated.

In the middle of all this are the blog community, which has not at all learned to widen their perspectives, valuing the different stories and see the grey scales. All is about chasing the TRUTH, whatever that means. Remarkably often, the bloggers are adult and educated. And after a couple of week, the press got a little bit nuanced. There were possibilities to find perspectives, even outside the actual books.

Sad, if you ask me. And an evidence that the learning perspectives that I promote when talking about blogs, might be wrong. Bloggers might just write as a method of bullying. Bloggers move away from the subjects as they get complex. Afterwards, traces from the battles are left in the form of shallow arguments and insults. Not much to learn from.

Are people too lazy to read the actual stories and think for themselves? A book may be a huge mountain to climb apparently. And is it so hard to se the word truth as merely a marketing strategy from thw authors, wanting to make a bit of cash? Are the need for an objective truth an evidence that we are tired of a complex world?

About this blog

Starting from a project about foreseeing the future of learning, this blog is an output of thoughts, ideas, comments and research. I am trying to be practical too, providning examples of the different aspects of the subject. My name is Pelle Filipsson and I work as a web pedagog.